6c. Electricity Costs
North Dakota Lignite Plant Power & Average Costs
Power from North Dakota lignite has one of the lowest costs in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) regional transmission grid. The highest-cost source is natural gas and the lowest is nuclear.
Because of North Dakota’s lignite, residents pay an average of 9.4 cents per kilowatt hour, which is half of what New Yorkers pay and about three cents less than Minnesotans pay.
Average Electricity Costs
The bars below show the cost of electricity per megawatt hour (2019).
- North Dakota – $25.18
- All Nuclear – $21.03
- All Coal – $32.35
- All Natural Gas – $33.28
Regional Low-Cost Electricity
The bars below show the cost of electricity per kilowatt-hour for residents.
- North Dakota – 9.4 cents
- Minnesota – 12.6 cents
- New York – 18.7 cents
- California – 22.5 cents
- Hawaii – 32.3 cents